ADRs advance but lag Wall Street

JasminaKelemen

SAN FRANCISCO (MarketWatch) -- European shares trading in the United States moved higher Tuesday but lagged the broader market, pressured by data showing less than robust economic growth in the euro zone.

The Bank of New York Europe American Depositary Receipt Index tacked on 0.22 points to 139.90, while the overall Composite ADR Index grew 0.83 point to 141.06.

On Wall Street, lower crude prices and retail sales data thrust the Dow Jones Industrial Average
DJIA, +0.45%
above 11,000 for the first time since Jan. 12. See Market Snapshot.

Figures from the Eurostat office showed that growth in the euro zone was limited to 0.3% from the third quarter, or 1.7% year on year. The figures from Brussels came out on the same day that the German Federal Statistical Office said Europe's largest economy didn't grow at all from the third quarter, and rose 1% year on year. See full story.

Among individual issues, shares of volume-leader Nokia Corp.
NOK, +0.19%
jumped as much as 3.4% to $11.85 after the world's largest handset manufacturer said that it was joining forces with Sanyo to make cell phones for the U.S. market. See full story.See Stock Performance.

Shares of Swedish competitor Ericsson
ERICY
rose as much as 2% to $34.81. Alcatel
ALA, +0.24%
shares were nearly unchanged at $14.17.

The telecom sector was enjoying strong gains after France Telecom
FTE, -0.32%
posted a 90% rise in 2005 net income and a 6% rise in sales, and also said that its 2006 dividend payment would rise year on year. See Stock Performance.

The company added that it expects to report a 7% rise in revenue during 2006 and that it intends to slash 8.5% of its workforce.

Shares of the fixed-line and mobile-services provider rose as much as 3.3% to $22.88. Other advancers in the sector included Deutsche Telekom
DT
Portugal Telecom
PT, +1.50%
and Spain's Telefonica
TEF, -0.35%

In the banking sector, UBS
UBS, +0.65%
more than tripled its quarterly profit on the sale of some of its divisions.

The Swiss bank's shares, though, were in decline as the bank also reported rising costs and a smaller share buyback than some analysts had expected. See full story.

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